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How to Create Customer Feedback Loops A customer feedback loop is a two-way street of communication, where you can elicit feedback from customers and where customers can provide your business with unsolicited...

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Steps to Strategic Planning Strategic planning involves creating a guide your business can use to start and operate a successful and profitable business. According to Planware.org and The World Bank,...

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What Are Companies Doing to Take Advantage of One to... One to one marketing involves understanding the needs and wants of your customers and then providing products or services that directly respond to these needs. According to...

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Going Organic Article--Looking For Candidates to Interview Student: I am writing an article on Going Organic: Is it possible to eat organic on today's college campuses? for College PreView magazine. Since the demographic of the...

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Marketing Ideas for Financial Services When you work with people’s finances, people tend to me a bit more sensitive than when making purchases of another nature. Whether you’re a financial advisor, banker or...

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How to Create Customer Feedback Loops

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 02-08-2010

Category : Uncategorized

A customer feedback loop is a two-way street of communication, where you can elicit feedback from customers and where customers can provide your business with unsolicited feedback. Whether you ask customers to provide you with feedback or they provide it on their own, this feedback can be a vital component of continuously improving your business and boosting your sales. In order to complete the feedback loop, when you do receive feedback from customers, you must have a system in place to immediately respond to an acknowledge the customer feedback.

Determine the ways you currently communicate with customers. Whether you use emails, newsletters or point-of-sale displays to communicate information with your current customers, these are the same avenues you may be able to start with to elicit feedback from them. Creating customer feedback loops means using the various methods available to communicate with and elicit feedback from customers, so you use more than one way to allow customers to provide you with business feedback.

Add feedback links and options to each form of communication. Implement a feedback response form or way of communicating with customers for each of the communication channels you identify in Step 1. For example, if you communicate with customers via email, implement an online survey customers can take by clicking on a link in your email. Free survey services such as Survey Monkey allow you to create an online survey, provide a link for customers to go to and complete the survey and tallies your results for you to review. Provide print versions of the survey for customers to complete when in your business location or if you ship products, include an insert in the box that directs customers to provide feedback in the online survey.

Respond to customer feedback. Set up an autoresponder email message to go out to each customers as they submit the online survey. The autoresponder should thank the customer for completing the survey and let them know that one of your employees will contact them shortly, if appropriate. Some customers want a response while others do not, so you may want to include a question on the survey that asks if they want someone from the company to respond to the feedback.

Respond to problems and issues. Establish a system where the employee receiving the feedback directs the feedback to the appropriate party to respond to issues and problems customers have had with your business. The employee should respond in a timely manner and have an apology and a resolution ready before contacting the client.

Provide online and offline methods for communicating with your business. When allowing customers to provide feedback or asking for feedback, include several ways customers can submit their feedback, including by email, phone, online or using regular mail.

Steps to Strategic Planning

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 23-07-2010

Category : Marketing, Misc.

Tags:

Strategic planning involves creating a guide your business can use to start and operate a successful and profitable business. According to Planware.org and The World Bank, the strategic planning process is a multi-step process. The strategic planning process includes gaining buy-in from all of the levels of the organization, creating vision, establishing a mission, setting objectives, planning strategies and programs to implement.

Gaining Buy-in

Strategic planning typically includes the involvement of the key personnel in your company. Small business strategic planning includes the owner(s) and managers of each area of the company such as finance, marketing and operations. In some cases, one person plays more than one role, but the idea is to being all of the key employees together so that the strategic planning process has input from all of the different angles of the business. This may occur in a meeting where an explanation of the strategic planning process and the role each employee plays in the process occurs.

Vision

The first step in strategic planning is creating a vision for the business. A vision is a description on where the company is today, as well as where it will be in one, two, three and five years from now. Planware.org says you should create the vision for your business by writing it in a way that a stranger that doesn’t know anything about your business can read the company vision and immediately understand elements of the business such as its products or services, the markets it serves, customers, processes, location and staffing.

Mission

The next step in strategic planning is to create the company mission. The mission explains the purpose of the business. While the vision is a description that paints a picture of the business, the mission is typically a one to three sentence statement including what the business does, the primary products or services and primary customers. For example, a software company mission statement may read, “X Corp. designs, develops, assembles and markets systems for data base management. These systems integrate its proprietary operating system software with hardware supplied by major manufacturers, and are sold to small, medium and large-sized companies for a range of business applications. Its systems are distinguished by a sophisticated operating system, which permits use without trained data-processing personnel.”

Objectives

Next, you need to plan the short-term and long-term objectives of the company. Most businesses have an underlying objective to turn a profit, but other objectives you can set in your strategic plan may include coverage of growth, technology pr expansion into new markets.

Strategies

The strategies are specific actions or steps the business employees need to take to achieve the vision, mission and objectives of the company. The strategy portion of a strategic plan provides the most details because it lists and describes the tasks and actions you need to complete to achieve the objectives set. For example, if the objective is to expand into the Mom-to-be market in your local community, some of the strategies may include placing print ads in local parenting magazines and attending daycare and pre-school orientation sessions for parents as a guest speaker in order to reach the members of the new market.

Programs

The final step in strategic planning is to create the programs. Programs include information such as the resources you use to carry out your strategies and reach objectives. The programs area of strategic planning also includes timelines, budgets and performance targets or ways to measure your ability to accomplish your business objectives.

What Are Companies Doing to Take Advantage of One to One Marketing?

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 07-07-2010

Category : Marketing

One to one marketing involves understanding the needs and wants of your customers and then providing products or services that directly respond to these needs. According to “Entrepreneur” magazine, one to one marketing is about building relationships with your customers. Different companies use different methods for carrying out one to one marketing, so you’ll have to find the approach that is right for your business.

Effective Sales Letters

Sales letters can be for a follow-up on a lead, to convert a prospect into a customer or to introduce your products and services to a potential client. In one to one marketing, companies are paying close attention to the contents of its sales letters in order to make the letter as compelling as possible. Marketing Coach Kim Gordon at “Entrepreneur” says there are six rules to putting together an effective sales letter for a one to one marketing approach. Rule number one is to set a goal or give the letter a specific purpose. For example, if you’re trying to reengage past customers, the purpose of the letter is to introduce an exclusive deal for past customers that propels them to place an order with you again. The second rule is to give the letter a strong opening that hooks the reader immediately. For reengaging past customers, you may say something similar to, “We want you back!” or “We miss you!” Third, make sure the message the letter contains is unique, but is relevant to the reader. By creating an exclusive deal only available to past customers, you can speak directly to those who have done business you’re your before. Fourth, speak directly to the customer and rule number five is to make it easy for them to respond to what you’re offering in the letter. For example, you may mention how long it has been since they made a purchase from your business. You can make it easy for them to respond to the special offer by providing a promotional code they can use to place an order by phone, online or by fax. The final rule is to keep your reader in mind when writing your letter so the tine and language is appropriate for the audience. For example, read your letter out loud. If the intent of the tone is light and fun, then make sure to use language that represents this. For example, opening the letter with, “We miss you!” not only acts as a hook, but sets the tone to be less formal and less serious. You may even end the letter with the statement, “We want you back, so take advantage of this exclusive deal for past customers. Save 35 percent on your next purchase. Act now because this exclusive deal is gone for good on August 1, 2010.”

Loyalty Programs

Many businesses focus on always attracting new customers, but neglect to nurture existing customers. Garnering repeat business from existing customers can help to boost sales, while also continuing to try to attract new customers. Another one to one marketing approach businesses are using to nurture its existing client base is loyalty programs. Loyalty programs provide special rewards for customers that buy from your business regularly. Face-to-face businesses, such as retail stores, may have a loyalty card that receives a stamp each time a customer makes a purchase. When a certain number of purchases occur, the customer receives a free product or service.

Tracking Preferences and Characteristics

Tracking habits, preferences and characteristics of customers allows you to gather information from customers that you can use to create new products and services to fit customer needs and desires better. The information can also alter marketing campaigns to cater to existing customers. For example, if you track the purchases each customer makes in your database, you can send emails and direct mail pieces that promote similar or related products to the ones they already buy. Rather than sending the email message to everyone in your database, you are sending the marketing email to the customers that are most likely to be interested in and buy what you’re touting.

Going Organic Article–Looking For Candidates to Interview

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 30-06-2010

Category : Uncategorized

Student:

I am writing an article on Going Organic: Is it possible to eat organic on today’s college campuses? for College PreView magazine. Since the demographic of the magazine is African American, Latin, Asian and Native American, I am looking to interview three undergraduate students that fall into one or more of these ethnic groups. The students should also be successfully managing to maintain their organic diet while in college.

Along with answering interview questions, the students also have to supply the publication with a high-resolution photograph to print along with their profile in the article.

Expert:

I am writing an article on Going Organic: Is it possible to eat organic on today’s college campuses?

I’m looking to interview nutrition experts that can share information on how undergraduate students can maintain an organic diet while in college and/or what college campuses are doing to cater to this group of students.

Marketing Ideas for Financial Services

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 29-06-2010

Category : Marketing

Tags: ,

When you work with people’s finances, people tend to me a bit more sensitive than when making purchases of another nature. Whether you’re a financial advisor, banker or offer a financial product, reaching your target audience is more about forming a relationship with them through your marketing efforts than it is accomplishing a transaction. Financial sector marketing ideas tend to come to ways in which the bond can be formed and solidified. Once a year, Senior Market Advisor compiles the top 100 marketing ideas from your fellow financial experts from which you may be able to draw some inspiration.

Go Back to Basics

Pick up the phone every once in a while and touch base with your clients when you’re not actually trying to sell them something. Making contact by phone without the specific intent to give them a sales pitch is an indirect form of marketing. You can schedule your calls for special occasions such as client birthdays or anniversaries or schedule it according to a season such as a “spring cleaning” checkup call. Some of your calls will turn into business because it reminds clients or prospects of some point of business they wanted to discuss with you. If you wish to take more of a direct marketing approach, you can call with a specific financial product or service that the prospect or client may be interested in for their own personal financial situation. In general, though, a more indirect approach can work in your favor.

Ask for Referrals

Either with a letter that goes in the mail or an email blast to your list, send out a letter to your satisfied clients asking them to refer others who may be in need of your financial product or service. Clients who have worked with you know first-hand how you can benefit them, so they are more apt to refer you to other people they know. People who are alike and have like needs also tend to run in packs, so the chances are good that your clients and prospects that fit into your target market know other people you fit into your target market too. It is in human nature to want to help others, so when it comes to financial situations, emotion motivates many clients to refer people to you they know you can help and vice versa.

Book Speaking Engagements

With speaking engagements, you can speak at other events or book your own speaking events. Find events in your area that attract your target audience. Many organizations, associations and others seek professionals to speak to their group. Some event hosts pay an honorarium, but others do not. Your goal in booking speaking engagements is not to get paid, but to get in front of groups of people that are your potential clients. Speaking builds credibility because it paints you as an expert in your financial sector. People are drawn to working with the best of the best, so speaking engagements allow you to establish a platform of expertise and provide you with an opportunity to turn attendees into clients. Make sure you have some way of collecting the names and contact information of attendees, such as holding a prize drawing.

My fellow writers: Beware of ZSB Writers

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 24-06-2010

Category : Uncategorized

<a href=”http://www.freelancejobopenings.com/job/freelance-writer-las-vegas-nv-zsb-ebc54ffc2f/?d=1&amp;amp;source=share”>Freelance writer at ZSB (Las Vegas, NV)</a>
This company hires writers and then does not pay them for completed work. DO NOT do business with them and expect to get paid! They have owed me $400 for months and keep promising to pay me, but never do.

What a SWOT Analysis Does for a Business

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 21-06-2010

Category : Marketing

Tags: , ,

Whether starting a business or working on a business plan, it is likely that the term SWOT analysis has come up at some point. SWOT stands for strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis is a tool that businesses use to start a business, grow a business or bring new products and services.

Function

A SWOT analysis has four main functions to a business. The SWOT analysis is used for strategic planning purposes, to help the company improve its chances of succeeding, determining how to organize the development of the business and to identifying the competitive advantage of the business over its competition.

Characteristics

Essentially, the SWOT analysis is a list or chart of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business. The business owner, the business plan writer or a combination of company employees may be involved in putting together the SWOT analysis. Creating the list helps shape the direction the business needs to take to ensure success.

Strategic Planning

Once the business owner has a clear picture of what the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the company are, he or she can create a business and marketing plan that addresses each of these areas. For weaknesses, the business plan may and should contain the ways in which the business plans to overcome its weaknesses in order to turn it into a strength—or at least to diminish the weakness. The strengths should be used as leverage points for the company to promote its products or services. The plan should also contain information on how the company will take advantage of opportunities and how it will deal with or overcome the threats to the business.

Chance to Succeed

Conducting the SWOT analysis permits the business owner to evaluate the situation in which the business exists. A business can only overcome a challenge or issue when knowledge of the issue exists. Pre-planning on how issues are dealt with and how the company plans on pursuing business provides a guide for the company to use to propel it toward reaching the company goals and objectives. Without the SWOT analysis, it would leave the business owner to deal with an issue as it arises rather than being prepared for the problem when it occurs. Lack of awareness may also prohibit the business from achieving success because it’s not leveraging its strengths.

Identifying the Competitive Advantage

Placing the strengths and weakness of the business and the strengths and weakness of its competitors out in writing, allows the business to formulate its unique selling proposition (USP), which is what makes the business stand out from its competition. This is vital information because it allows the business you use the USP as leverage in all of its marketing, promotion and sales efforts.

Business Yellow Page Ads: Does it Bring in Business?

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 08-06-2010

Category : Marketing

Tags: , , ,

Online search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, have changed the way that customers search for business information. Despite the ease of online information, however, the yellow pages remain firmly in use with companies purchasing ads and relying on customers to utilize this medium for locating companies. Some argue the yellow pages will soon be obsolete, but it shows no sign of disappearing. The print version of the yellow pages remains a convenient and solid advertising option for many businesses.

The Facts

The yellow pages industry is unquestionably experiencing something of a decline. Statistics indicate that yellow pages users have decreased consistently since around 2005, with no signs that the decline is ending soon. The problem, of course, is one of the immediacy of the information. It is easy up company information on a mobile phone than it is to haul a complete book of yellow pages around every time you need to look something up. At the same time, the yellow pages feature not only company information but also useful information about company pricing, ads and specials, and licensing details about the company. As a result, business have the option to include an array of specifics within an advertisement that will appear in the yellow pages but might never appear online.

Benefits

The print version of the yellow pages is perhaps most useful for small local businesses. Chain companies provide standardized service from place to place, but when a customer is looking for a service with a local company it can be harder to choose the right one. The yellow pages offers these businesses the opportunity to present potential customers with their company information and assist the customers in making a decision.

Disadvantages

One of the biggest disadvantages to the yellow pages actually has less to do with the industry and more to do with the nature of information. In other words, information moves – and changes – quickly, and what might have been accurate company information a few months ago can quickly become obsolete in the yellow pages. As a result, businesses that advertise in the yellow pages have to remember that any company information provided in the yellow pages will remain static while the current book is active.

Considerations

Despite the convenience of mobile phones that connect to the internet, many customers in smaller areas do not have such luxuries. In fact, many customers in rural areas have limited internet access within their homes. And while this is a smaller demographic than those who live in large metropolitan areas, these customers are still in need of information about local businesses. As a result, the print version of the yellow pages provides a necessary service that enables them to do business in their community.

Expert Insight

Experts recognize that the yellow pages industry might continue to decline unless there are some changes. One of the more revolutionary changes might be the target audience for the yellow pages. Instead of yellow pages creators producing one large book with all area businesses, some have suggested that they produce “mini” yellow pages, focusing on different audiences with different lifestyles, such as a yellow pages for those who want to find environmentally friendly businesses or those looking only for a new church.

Post Ads for Free Online

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 25-05-2010

Category : Marketing

Tags: , , , ,

Whether you are trying to sell an item you no longer need or you are touting a product or service for your business, there are numerous ways to advertise without paying a dime. Generally, free advertisements are available online, but some local print publications also offer options for placing free advertisements.

Step 1

Determine the website or publication’s geographic coverage. Some classified advertisement websites (see Resources) or print publications that contain free advertising options only cover a specific geographic region. Review the websites and publications offering advertisements for free to see if the ads are broken down by geographic region or if the site or publication caters to a national audience.

Step 2

Read guidelines. Each website and print publication has its own rules and guidelines about placing free advertisements. Read these guidelines carefully so that when you compose your ad you adhere to all of the rules and regulations.

Step 3

Choose where to place your ad. Based on your research, pick all of the publications where you want to place your ad. Choose the sites that reach your audience.

Step 4

Register for an account. Most of the websites offering free advertisements require you to register for an account. You may have to supply some personal information such as your email address and in some cases your phone number. Print publications do not tend to require that you establish an account before submitting your ad.

Step 5

Choose a category for your item. After you register for each account, you are ready to start composing your advertisement and getting it ready to submit it. Review and choose the category options where you can list your advertisement and choose the most appropriate category for the item you’re advertising.

Step 6

Write your advertisement copy. Put some work into composing copy for your ad. An advertisement is supposed to intrigue readers to seek more information, so use an attention-grabbing headline and remember to answer the five Ws (who, what, when, where and why) in your ad copy. Also, remember to include a way for the reader to contact you or gain more information by including an email address, phone number or website address.

Step 7

Add a picture. Some venues allow you to include a photo or logo.

Step 8

Review the ad. Once you have the ad copy written, review it for errors and make any revisions necessary. You may want to have one or two others review your ad too to make sure there aren’t any spelling errors, and no information is missing.

Step 9

Submit the ad. Follow the publication instructions on how to submit the ad. Websites allow online submissions, which typically require completing an online form. Many print publications also accept online submissions of your ad, while some may still require that you mail the information to an address listed in the publication.

How to Advertise on the Radio

Posted by Kristie Lorette | Posted on 22-05-2010

Category : Marketing

Tags: ,

Many businesses turn to radio advertising as a medium for reaching potential customers. When you buy radio advertising, you buy radio spots, which are typically in 30 or 60 second increments. As is the case with any form of advertising you choose for your business, proper planning and implementation is the key to effectively marketing your business on the radio.

Choose the right station or stations. You want to advertise on the radio stations whose listeners are the target audience for your business. Contact the radio stations you are interested in and request an advertising kit that includes the listener demographics. Choose the radio stations whose listener demographics match the demographics of your customers.

Buy ad spots. Buy ad spots. One 30 or 60 second radio ad may be heard, but the more you can run the ad, the more effective it is to attract customers to your business. Determine how many ad spots you can buy according to your radio marketing budget. For example, morning show ad spots are typically more expensive than middle of the night spots and rates vary from station to station and city to city. A top New York City radio station charges between $200 and $600 for a radio spot, while a top station in Raleigh, North Carolina costs about $400.

Write and submit your ad. The radio station typically provides you with the format you have to submit your ad to them. Some stations will produce the commercial for you by having one of the air personalities read the ad for you. Work with the ad representative for the radio station on composing the copy for your ad and make sure that it reflects your business the way you want it to.

Tips

You can use Arbitron research to get an idea of the audience the radio stations you’re considering attract. Arbitron sells radio ads by matching the business audience with radio audiences, so Arbitron can suggest the stations that serve your area that meet your needs. Arbitron can also help you identify the radio station ratings, so you can conclude if it is a top station.

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